For one, there is the renowned university whose politically outspoken students led some of the most influential anti-war protests of the 1960s. For another, Chez Panisse, where Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower started the movement known as California Cuisine. And perhaps Telegraph Avenue, a thoroughfare whose tie-dyed panhandlers – redolent of sandalwood, patchouli and a certain psychotropic herb – evoke a shabby reenactment of the Summer of Love. But for those enthralled with mid-century Italian design, Berkeley is ground zero for another kind of counter-culture: vintage automotive restoration.

Before the train is even across Louisiana's Lake Ponchartrain, it's clear this trip is going to be about the passengers on board. More than the rhythmic motion of the train or the scenes unfolding beyond the windows, it is the cast of characters – diverse, randomly grouped together, for long duration – who will tell the tale.

As RACER first documented in November and again in our recent Silly Season update, open-wheel veteran Ryan Briscoe was been the leading candidate to complete Chip Ganassi Racing's lineup, and will rejoin the program as the final member of the team's four-pronged IndyCar Series effort. 2004 IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan, who was signed to the Ganassi team in October as the pilot of the No. 8 NTT Data- and TNT Energy Drink-sponsored No. 8 Chevy, will move to the No. 10 Target Chevy, vacating the No. 8 for Briscoe.